The Remote Approach in a Qualitative Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Perspective Considering the Researcher's Life Experiences and the Trustworthiness.

This article focuses on the challenges and implications of conducting qualitative research during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when researchers themselves are immersed in the global emergency context. Drawing on a remote qualitative study of pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil during the first wave of the pandemic, it explores how shared experiences of uncertainty and social disruption influenced all phases of research, from recruitment to data analysis. The authors apply psychoanalytic concepts such as Freud's notion of the uncanny (das unheimliche) and Lacan's discourse of the master to discuss the researcher's dual insider-outsider position and emphasize the importance of reflexivity—acknowledging researchers' subjectivity and emotional responses—as a methodological tool to navigate ethical and epistemological challenges. Practical considerations for remote data collection, including rapport building, participant privacy, and managing interruptions, are also addressed to enhance trustworthiness and ethical rigor in pandemic-era qualitative studies.